Northwest Gold Coast

In my years of optimizing websites for the search engines, I’ve often been called in to remedy business websites that have had disastrous results in the search engines. In each case a prior SEO service provider had employed abusive and/or neglectful strategies. 20 of these abuses and neglectful practices are listed below.

1. The first thing on the home page is a link to someone else’s web site.
2. A competitor’s website is inappropriately optimized for the business’ name and trademarked names.
3. The web pages include hidden text (text that is in the same color as the web page background color).
4. The web pages include hidden links (such as links from unseen graphics).
5. The web pages have many identical web pages with different web addresses or page names.
6. The site is built in frames without implementation of proper code.
7. The home page is a Flash sequence with no text for the search engines.
8. Every web page name includes lots of code language such as “&” (ampersands), “?” (question marks) and “=” (equals signs).
9. Keyword phrases are based on guessing what people search for rather than on what keywords are actually used by searchers.
10. Web pages have no original text (text is copied from other websites)
11. Important text is placed into graphics.
12. The web pages have no metatags.
13. The same metatags are incorporated into every web page.
14. The site’s text hasn’t been updated in years.
15. The site’s code doesn’t meet current international standards.
16. The navigation links are different on every page.
17. There is no single web page that lists links to all the website’s pages.
18. The navigation takes visitors forward to lots of dead ends with no ability to link back.
19. The web pages include many links to missing pages and graphics.
20. The site uses free sub-domain hosting, which even if disguised with redirects can harm your search presence.

In many cases, the business’ leadership doesn’t know these abusive and neglectful strategies have been employed. However, those businesses that have allowed me to remove these strategies and employ proven, ethical strategies which have experienced very positive results.

If you suspect that your site may suffer from these abusive or neglectful strategies please email us at info@4cesi.com.

Tags: Business Advice, Services by Elizabeth Paulsen
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While every business is unique, successful businesses are built with the support of the following roles.

1. The optimist – On a daily basis this individual envisions and speaks of success and exhorts others to do the same. This individual’s optimism is so strong that it is contagious. Staff, prospects and vendors all have an opportunity to “catch” this individual’s optimism for the business.
2. The relationship builder – This individual gives the business its face or personality. Communications between this individual and prospects, customers, vendors and/or affiliates are genuine and substantive – more than casual schmoozing.
3. The inventor – This individual plans, builds or creates services and/or products that distinguish the business from its competition.
4. The pragmatist – This individual assures that the practical aspects of the business are carried out on time – bills (including taxes) are paid, governmental requirements are fulfilled, marketing attracts prospects, prospects are secured as customers, customers are served, receivables are received, etc.
5. The sage – Typically, this individual is short on words and long on insight. This individual is often the one who realizes that no one person can be all of the above and so this individual advises the organization to find strategic relationships with vendors, affiliates and mentors who can fulfill the roles not filled by the principals of the organization.

Each of these roles must work in balance and harmony with the other roles. In the case of a very small business, one person may fulfill several roles (but typically can not fulfill all roles). In the case of a large business, each role may require the coordinated effort of hundreds of people. In both small and large businesses, mutual respect and encouragement across the roles help create an environment in which all staff and associates can excel.

Every business will experience episodes when the roles are not being fulfilled in a balanced way. The optimist may become temporarily melancholy, the sage may have a lapse in judgment, etc.

These episodes can be weathered with the help of planning, mutual respect and good humor. Planning must involve training individuals to step into new roles so that other individuals can take vacations or leaves of absence to rest and restore.
Mutual respect and good humor alleviate tension through the unstable period, provide a platform for creative problem solving and buy the time needed to implement practical solutions.

It is easy to recognize businesses that keep these roles in balance. They are the businesses we enjoy having as employers, vendors, associates and customers. They are positive, forward thinking and successful over the long haul. They are the role models we want to emulate and the businesses we need to keep in our community. Seeking them out and learning from them is a refreshing and healthy experience.

If you know a local business that keeps these roles in balance, please let us know. We would be happy to interview them for an upcoming article!

Tags: Business Advice, Services by Elizabeth Paulsen
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The call goes something like this.

“Elizabeth, this is Joe. I have a question for you. Are you a Facebook Junkie?”

Silent pause. Private thought… junkie… addict…habit… Hmmm, I check Facebook several times a day. It has become a habit like washing my face and brushing my teeth. The answer…

“Yes, I am!”

“I’ve got Chad here with me. Can you help him get our company logo with a link to our company in his personal Facebook?”

“Yes, I’ll look into what is needed and get back to you with the details.”

The call ends. Note: The company has seven retail locations and one of these is also the corporate office and Joe owns/manages one of the retail locations.

First, I login to Facebook and do a search for the company’s name. Oh boy… Many related results pop up, but none are the right one. The first one shows the corporate logo, but incorrectly identifies the listing as a personal page and the logo is in the place of a profile picture. This means that the company’s employees can’t connect to it properly. The second one has no logo, but correctly identifies the listing as a local business page, but represents another one of the seven retail locations associated with the business. The third one actually is a company page, but represents yet another one of the seven retail locations. The fourth is a community page with 8 “Likes”. Next come several personal employee pages that have linked to the community page. The community page has no information and was auto-generated when the employees identified the business as their employer on their personal pages without linking to a properly made page.

I email Joe and recommend that he have one of his staff set up a new page that would be a local business page for his retail location.

How to: Anyone in his office who has a valid personal Facebook account could set up a local business page by logging into a personal Facebook account and clickng to their “Profile” page and scrolling to page bottom and clicking on “Create a Page” and choosing “Local Business or Place” and then following the wizard that Facebook supplies.

I also recommend that someone from the corporate office set up a “Company, Organization or Institution” page for the main office and include a text description that identifies all seven retail locations.

Once these pages are made, the administrator for each page can add proper logos and company information including a link to each associated website.

How to: Each employee can click “Edit Profile” and update his/her “Education and Work” section to show the relationship to the local retail local business page and to the corporate organization’s company page.

The advantage of using a “Local Business or Place” page for each retail location is that this page type allows other Facebook members to “Check” in to each location separately. Whereas using the “Company, Organization or Institution” page for the corporate location supports branding across the whole organization.

As a next step the business could set up a “Brand or Product” page for each unique brand or product or service that the business carries. These pages would allow customers and clients to communicate with the business and one another regarding those specific brands or products.

As a Facebook Junkie and a consumer, I appreciate when a business uses the Facebook page types correctly. It helps me connect with businesses in the ways that I want to connect with them and it makes me think of them more highly. This in turn makes me more likely to buy from them.

About the author

Elizabeth Paulsen elizabeth@4cesi.com has been providing Internet marketing strategy advice and services to small businesses for over ten years.

Tags: Business Advice, Services by Elizabeth Paulsen
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In this day and age the internet is quite the crowded place. With so many different outlets all vying for attention, marketing space, and customers; it’s a wonder how anyone is capable of successfully competing on the web. However, there is a product that makes it possible for anyone to compete on the web regardless of budget size. That product is known as Google AdWords and it is bringing small businesses everywhere to forefront of their niche market on the web.

Google AdWords is an advertising product that advertisers can use to display ads on Google Search, Google Search Network, and Google Display Network and can be targeted on a local, national, and international level. For clarification, Google Search is the search you know and love on Google.com, the Search Network comprises all of Google Search Partners such as Ask.com and AOL Search, and the Display Network is Google’s vast network of affiliated sites that host Google ads such as YouTube.com, Gmail, and over one million web, video, gaming, and mobile sites. This enormous platform reaches over 80% of internet users in North America alone and more than 60% of internet users around the world!

One of the reasons Google AdWords is so cost efficient is that it enables advertisers to focus their ads on their target market through the use of keywords. Users viewing these ads have already indicated an interest in a relevant topic pertaining to the ad and, therefore, pertaining to the service, product, and/or business the ad is portraying. For example, when a user enters a query into Google Search, such as ‘buy refrigerator’, only relevant information pertaining to that phrase will be displayed. The user has expressed an interest in purchasing a refrigerator and is actively searching for what businesses have to offer through targeted and focused advertisements.

One doesn’t need to be concerned with costs when using Google AdWords because they provide the option to prepay in addition to other methods that give you control over the amount you want to spend. The advantage lies in the pricing model used, called performance-based advertising, where the advertiser only pays for measurable results. This mainly consists of cost-per-click, where you pay only when a user clicks on your ads for a price that you can put a cap on, and cost-per-thousand impressions, where you are charged per one thousand impressions (impressions are the number of times an ad is shown to a user). Plus, advertisers set a daily budget which is used to control expenses because Google will never charge the advertiser more than the specified budget.

In short, Google AdWords is an incredibly quick and easy way to jump to the top of the search results but it is also incredibly difficult to master. This platform enables you to reach an unbelievable amount of people on any scale around the world while giving you the power to target new, relevant users who are interested in what you have to offer, all at a budget you are comfortable with. If you would like help harnessing this amazing resource, we invite you to consult Cascade e-Commerce Solutions Inc. As a Google Certified Partner, we are more than capable of assisting you with this matter. For more information regarding setting up AdWords for your company or for examples of how AdWords has impacted small businesses in the area, please feel free to email CeSI at info@4cesi.com.

Helpful Links

Marketing and Advertising Using Google

Performance Based Advertising

Running Ads On Google

Tags: Business Advice, Services by Jordan Comar
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The WordPress trademark “W” icon is found all over the web. If you haven’t noticed it yet, you will now that you are looking for it. Still it would be easy to underestimate the number of WordPress sites since only a fraction of their designs highlight the “W”. Would you have guessed that this is a WordPress site?

(View the source and see the letters “wp” throughout the code.)

WordPress is a content management system for websites and blogs. The reason for the “W” icon’s prevalence is because WordPress is a fantastic tool.

WordPress really distinguishes itself from the average content manage system. It is all the little things that really make the difference. One of those distinguishing characteristics is their separation of pages and blog posts. This makes it incredibly easy to run a website and manage a blog. All the blog posts are automatically partitioned into a separate section of the site devoted to the blog. When using a certain WordPress Plugin, your most recent blog posts can be automatically featured in a Recent Blog Posts section of your site. You can find an example of one of our implementations featuring this tool at our client’s site, www.needamortgagenow.com.

We are big fans the functionality that is available through WordPress. WordPress offers a tool with great utility through “Plugins”. WordPress Plugins are website features created by a community of WordPress developers. These Plugins are website features that can simply be plugged in to existing sites. Think of it as a virtual electrical outlet which can take whatever appliance your site needs. We have clients using Plugins for slideshows, calendars, photo galleries, and more. A business with frequent events and activities might benefit from a calendar Plugin, such as the one we setup for Angle Lake Neighborhood Church (www.anglelake.org/calendar/). We were even able to help Studio Mene (www.studiomene.com) have a website that can toggle between English and Japanese via a WordPress Plugin. Our favorite WordPress Plugin is the SEO All-In One tool. This helps the site’s contributors comply with SEO guidelines using little to no effort. The tool uses a fill in the blank form which generates essential HTML elements for SEO.

The ability for the less tech-savvy to manage a site is what our web designers and clients appreciate most about WordPress. Content can be added and modified without any knowledge of HTML or CSS. It is as simple as clicking a button to create a new page. Creating the content for the page is similar to using MS Word. Simply type your content and insert pictures or videos. WordPress will automatically apply your theme and styles to the content you ad.

WordPress themes allow the average client to have substantial influence on the design with minimal effort. By browsing through themes, a client can choose a starting point. Once a theme is decided upon, elements from other themes can readily be implemented too. These themes allow a client to have a great deal of creative influence if they wish, without requiring the technical knowledge. A site can be as close to or as far from a template as desired.

The typical WordPress site by Cascade e-Commerce Solutions Inc. has all the functionality of a WordPress site, but without the appearance of a cookie cutter creation. CeSI sites are unique, professional and allow anyone to generate the content.

For more examples of CeSI WordPress implementations explore the following websites:

• www.petresort.com
• www.northwestgoldcoast.com
• www.smart-service.com
• www.wacustomcontracting.com

Even more CeSI sites can be found at www.4cesi.com

Tags: Business Advice, Services by Kevin Cushing
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What if the opinion of every customer you have ever had was instantly available for your review? Or, what if everyone, including new potential customers had access to these opinions? Essentially, they do. The increasing importance and proliferation of review sites has made reviews powerful tools for consumers. Reviews could be powerful for a business too, or it could be a pretty scary concept.

Sites like Yelp, Google Reviews and Trip Advisor provide reviews of consumer services like restaurants, hotels and tours. This soapbox for consumers amplifies the footprint of a business’ performance. If a business performs poorly everyone will have that information at their fingertips. However, the opposite is also true. If your business provides a valuable service, this is a way for customers to find you.

For business owners like Captain Jim Maya of Maya’s Westside Charters, these platforms are great. Captain Maya’s success is a shining example of what a good reputation can do for a business. Captain Maya has earned a 96% rating on Trip Advisor from more than 50 reviews. His services earn praise and rave reviews from customers. In turn, new customers seek out Maya’s Westside Charters because of its reputation.

When things are going well it provides a supply of new customers, and simplifies business operations by closely linking success to customer satisfaction. Alternatively, if a business is getting negative responses on review sites it can be very damaging. Many savvy consumers visit review sites to vet a service before they buy. Get too many negative reviews and a business will scare away these savvy consumers.

Although a consumer seeking out reviews is just the tip of the iceberg. The search giant, Google, has taken a liking to reviews. In June 2011, Google reached more than 80% of the search engine market share. With Google’s size and affinity for reviews, it is becoming less and less likely that someone will be able to find a business on the web without getting a glimpse of reviews and consumer feedback.

Popular review sites rank very highly in Google, meaning content on these sites that is related to a business will likely be included in search results, maybe even more prominently than the business itself.

You also won’t be able to get directions from Google Maps without catching wind of the business’ reputation. Google displays information from prominent review sites on the business’ Maps listing.

The new Google Related tool is another way that Google incorporates consumer feedback into web browsing. A small toolbar at the bottom of every website pops up which includes what Google has deemed to be the most relevant results. Since Google loves reviews they will put these in the related toolbar. For a business with negative reviews or a bad reputation these opinions will be displayed while visitors browse their site.

With the growing prominence of consumer opinions on the web it is important to take a proactive approach to your business’ reputation. This means monitoring your reputation on a regular basis and actively cultivating a positive reputation online.

Captain Jim Maya is a client of CeSI. In addition to our regular internet marketing services that we provide for him, we do online reputation monitoring. We receive updates whenever something new is published about Maya’s Westside Charters. The most recent updates included: “The Perfect Whale Watching Trip!!!”, “Great whale watching experience!” and “Could not have been better!” It is fun for us to get updates like this and see a client doing well.

If a client were to ever receive a bad review, maybe a fraudulent one from a competitor, then we would catch it early. In this event we would notify the client, contact the review site and let the client know what more they can be doing to correct the problem.

If you want more information regarding how to protect your business’ hard earned image, email kevin@4cesi.com or phone 206-244-9092.

Tags: Business Advice, Services by Kevin Cushing
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It’s important to keep a website up to date to keep it relevant to the search engines and website visitors. As search engines crawl websites, new content (new files, updated date and time stamps and revised file sizes) prompt the search engine robots to re-index the site’s web pages and this in turn can bolster the search engine ranking positions for the site’s pages . Furthermore, as technology changes website aesthetics go out of style (think digital jean jackets).

Even businesses that are actively involved in online marketing and frequently updating their website eventually need a complete rework. These projects end up being great experiences for the web designers and clients. CeSI recently had the pleasure of working with Federal Way Custom Jewelers to rework their site.

The company is a locally owned custom jeweler that has been serving the Puget Sound for over 55 years. Back when their old website was implemented, the average computer monitor was significantly smaller and narrower. Originally, with much narrower screens (800 pixels wide) the bright purple background occupied much less of the screen and was hence a more subtle background. Modern screens however are widescreen displays. Even small laptops are 15 inch wide screens that can be 1600 pixels wide and desktop monitors can go upwards of 24 inches. On these newer displays the page content remained the same narrow width and the purple background filled the remaining space. As a result visitors to the old site design that had modern monitors were blasted with a purple background because it took up most of their screen. This rather literal eyesore became a problem. The jeweler’s image was intended to convey elegance, class and taste. Unfortunately a wall of bright purple did not accomplish this.

Today their site is completely different. First, the content has been widened to fill modern wide screens. Another improvement was done to the background; they chose a tasteful and more subdued background pattern. Now visitors can focus on the main content. Another thing that was done was applying a bit of a marketing touch to the site. The old site gave the visitors the option to find their own way throughout the site. Today their site is designed to draw visitors to the content that creates revenue. This was done by adding a call to action to each page. Their old site hoped that someone seeing their site would lead them to visit the store. The new version of the site has an appointment form that allows customers to interact with Federal Way Custom Jewelers directly through the website. The result of all these improvements is they now have a site that looks classy and drives sales.

Thinking of how your website could use a face lift? Below are six tips to keep your business website up to date.

1. Widen the content frame
   Take a page out of Federal Way Custom Jeweler’s book and widen your website content. Screens are getting wider. If your site is designed for monitors that are only 800 pixels wide it might be time to upgrade. Not only does wider content have a newer look, but it allows you to get more page content above the fold.
2. STOP YELLING
   Flashing red and neon banners do not get anyone to buy anything. The only thing this does is get visitors to close the window faster. Avoid using stop colors. Don’t use all caps. You can draw attention to important aspects of your site with brighter versions of your theme colors and proper link/button placement. The same goes for sounds and videos. If it bothers you on other websites, don’t put it on yours.
3. Drive Sales
   If you created your website with the intention of making money, you need to remember to keep this the focus. This concept can get lost sometimes. Each page should have the focus of driving sales. If you don’t have this focus already, try adding a call to action to every page. This means that if you sell widgets on your site, you should link to the widget catalog from every page. Use action verbs in this call to action such as “buy” or “purchase”. Try to make the homepage focus on selling those widgets too. Think of it like a virtual billboard. You wouldn’t pay for a billboard that didn’t try to sell.
4. Add content regularly
   Your website shouldn’t stay completely static. You want to provide reasons for people and search engines to visit and revisit your site. Make sure to keep contact information and any products current. A great tool for keeping websites current is a blog. Try adding a new blog post every few days. Fresh blog content keeps people and search engines coming back to your site. You can even get traffic for new keywords if you include those in your post content and titles.
5. Check Browser Compatibility
   Internet protocol is constantly updating. If you can’t remember what year you last updated your website design, then it’s a good time to consider this. Taking your site out of tables, an old website build strategy, moving JavaScript or style from the code to separate files, cleaning up the code and verifying that the code is up to international web standards will help improve page load speed and help search engines get right to the content of your page. You can update the site’s code and keep your design or you can update the code and go for a modern look. Updating your website’s code doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. CeSI will often do this for new clients that find their code to be an obstacle.

If you’ve thought your company’s website could lose a few cobwebs consider these tips. These are easy ways to dramatically improve your site. After all, it is a lot easier to change your website than it is to throw away your favorite jean jacket (really, they are perfectly acceptable as pants, why not jackets?).

Tags: Business Advice by Risa Miller
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Mobile sites are a powerful and relatively new tool for businesses. At CeSI we think they are a valuable tool and we are glad to see some of our clients beginning to adopt them.

A typical consumer already has built up a certain amount of interest in your offerings before they ever contact your business. This is sales work that the customer has done for you. If you wait to talk to the customer they might second guess their perceived need, or worse, explore a competitor’s offerings. A mobile site is a great way to expedite interaction with potential customers.

The following theoretical scenario involves one business with a mobile site, and one without:

Steve’s Modern Widgets and Murry’s Old Fashion Widgets. Both businesses sell the same thing. In fact Murry’s Old Fashion Widgets even has a website ( it hasn’t been updated since 1802 ). Some consumer out there, let’s name him Lotzi Monet (he’s a rich descendant of a famous French painter) is in his limo and gets to thinking that his business could use some new widgets. Instead of sitting idly by, he hops on his smart phone and starts checking out widgets online. He checks out Murry’s site first, but Murry doesn’t have a mobile site. Lotzi becomes impatient attempting to navigate a standard site on his mobile phone and tries Steve’s Modern Widgets instead.

“Success!”, Lotzi Monet declares. He has been redirected to Steve’s mobile site. Rather than go home and get online to buy widgets later, Lotzi takes out his oversized wallet to get his credit card nmber and buys his new widgets right then and there.

With the widespread adoption of mobile phones, businesses can react faster to consumers and make sales where they never could before.

However, mobile content is a new and slightly different medium. CeSI has a few tips to help with this new challenge.

1. Keep it simple. You have limited space; don’t try to do too much. Very few people can paint a masterpiece on a 2” x 3” canvas. Adjust your goals accordingly. Think plainly with utility in mind. Put yourself in the customers’ shoes and try to imagine three or four things that a customer would most want from your site. Make these few objectives the goals for your mobile site.
2. Focus on a call to action. One thing that should remain unchanged is the focus on a call to action. You can cut out almost everything in an attempt to simplify your mobile site, however leave the call to action on the site. You have a website because you want to make sales, and you are getting a mobile site because you want more sales. Try to steer your visitors towards making a purchase.
3. Adjust the window size automatically. Mobile devices come in all shapes and sizes. Unlike a typical website that will appear on wider screen sizes, a mobile site needs to work for both narrow and wide screen sizes. Your customers may be browsing on something that is 2”x 2” or they may have a tablet screen almost as big as a laptop. Your site needs to work for both. This means buttons, and windows that scale. You don’t want the iPad user squinting or the iPhone user pulling out a magnifying glass.
4. Include a button to the full site. Your average mobile visitor will find what they need on your nifty mobile site. However, you don’t want to restrict them. Include a prominent link that will take them to your standard site. This ensures that anything they can’t find on your mobile site is accessible regardless.

CeSI recently implemented a mobile site for Smart-Service, an independent Subaru auto repair company. Historically, Smart Service has been early to adopt new Internet marketing strategies. The company has made great use of their blog and as a result has built a reputation online as an expert in their field. Their success prompted us to recommend starting a blog to other clients.  A well run blog can enhance a business’ reputation and boost the business’ presence in search engines. Smart Service was ahead of the crowd with online maps as well. Before every site had Google Maps they had custom maps to accompany the directions on their site. Today we recommend that every client, capable of doing so, claim their online maps listings in Google, Bing and Yahoo. Smart Serivce was also one of our first clients to have us implement the Facebook “like button” on key pages of their website.  We are happy to help other businesses implement similar strategies to market their products and services.  Please feel free to email us at elizabeth@4cesi.com to request more information or phone 206-244-9092.  We’d be happy to help your business get more from its Internet marketing.

Tags: Business Advice by Jordan Comar
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While every generation has suffered through this recession, my generation, 25-35 year olds, has been hit unexpectedly hard by this economy.  In 2007 and 2008, when the job market was quite good, I was in graduate school.  But by the time my friends and I had finished, the economy tanked and jobs in our market niches began disappearing.

As a result since graduating with a Masters in Public Health I have taken short term contract jobs, jobs that were outside my target career goals and jobs that had highly irregular hours.

Most recently on February 9, 2011 I was laid off from the last of these irregular jobs.  Since that date, I have applied for nearly 75 jobs and only one of these applications has resulted in a request to schedule an interview, but after being rescheduled twice, even this interview was ultimately canceled when the hiring organization phoned to say they’d already hired another candidate. This stung because although I prepared repeatedly for an interview, I never received a chance to explain my passion for the position.

I struggle with frustration, let downs, and feelings of self-doubt at least once a week.  While I have strong international and domestic work experience, educational credentials and references and a desire to be a working citizen, I am concerned that I am over qualified by education but under qualified by age and long-term experience.

However, just last week, I found some encouragement when I realized that every time I receive a “no thank you” at least one other person may have received a “YES, PLEASE!”

Although my search for a job these last few months has not yet been fruitful I have garnered some knowledge that I think will help both those looking for work and those looking for workers.

For those looking for work:

1. Be flexible.  I have been applying for everything from medical assistant positions, to public health, to social services, to event planner for local community groups.  Though my resume shows mostly health related jobs, I know that I could excel in any field with my writing, research, project management, and customer service skills.
2. Whistle while you wait. Make the most of your free time. Get the exercise in that you never had time to do before.  Read that pile of books by the bed.  Explore your neighborhood like you’d planned when you moved in.  Bake homemade bread, organize your pantry! You have the time you always wished you had! No matter when my unemployment ends, I want to look back on this season of life and be proud of the work I accomplished even without “work”.
3. Build connections. Tell others you’re looking for work. I applied for my dream job this week because an old coworker in South Africa saw my online posting about looking for work. Another friend called today and had personally set me up for a phone call tonight regarding a great opening!

For those looking for workers:

1. Be open to a candidate who is willing to change careers.  Just because a candidate has worked and trained in a different industry or position doesn’t mean he/she isn’t the perfect candidate for your position.  For example, although I have worked mainly in the healthcare field, I can create print and online marketing materials, manage others, sell and fundraise in any field because these skills are highly transferrable.  Reading an application and considering an intriguing but not shoe-in candidate for an interview is an extension of major grace and also may land you the perfect employee!
2. Make sure your application process allows candidates to clarify their skills and experience.  Many online processes do not allow candidates to submit a cover letter or resume and have text form fields that are too short to provide the details that can help distinguish one candidate from another.  For example, while I have a biology and a public health degree, for some jobs it may be very helpful for the hiring manager to know that I can plan, host and cook for events, organize an office or pantry, and engage both shy and gregarious people in meaningful dialogue.
3. Let candidates know you have received their applications and update candidates when they do or do not get an interview or the position.  In the world of online and electronic applications, many companies never give you word that they have received your application.  The more respectful you are even when you don’t hire candidates, the more likely those candidates will be to reapply for other positions in your organization.

In closing, while neither those who are looking for work nor those looking to hire can change the economy on a global scale, each of us has the opportunity to treat one another with respect and to make a difference on the local level.

By the way, if you know of anyone who has an open position in the Greater Seattle area, let me know, jen@northwestgoldcoast.com.

Tags: Business Advice by Jennifer Paulsen
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Selling a service is different from selling a product. Selling a service involves making more of a human connection and a commitment because what you are selling is more than an object. Selling a service, even when selling installation of a product, includes understanding the customer and selling the personality, knowledge, and skills of those who will be providing the service.

Effectively selling a service includes giving very honest, helpful and free advice. While strong, pushy and forward sales tactics can work to sell a product, this tactic usually won’t work when selling a service and most certainly will prevent a sale from moving into a long term ongoing service relationship. If your business sells a service, a different approach is critical.

In fact, it is possible to stand out and even win over a customer because you approach a service sale differently, the right way. One business that sells differently is Ethos Windows and Doors. Bill White, the founder of Ethos, saw things could be done a lot better. He left employment of one large service provider to start his own window and door company so that he could be free to sell through relationship building rather than high pressure sales. He knew by taking a better approach to communicating with potential customers, understanding what their needs are and then backing this up with excellent service delivery, he could make the whole experience much more pleasant for customers and fill a void left by others in the industry.

Take a hint from Bill’s success and adopt better sales practices in your business. Here are a few things you can do to make your sales team a little less abrasive and with any luck get a few more sales:

1. When someone makes a statement that would move towards ending the conversation let it go. Either they have made up their mind and simply don’t want to have to say “no”, or they really do need to think about all the information you have already given them. If the latter is true you can often do more harm than good by getting a bit pushy and aggressive. If you have brochures or informative materials, giving these to the prospect and then making a timely exit can the best next step. The brochure you leave with them will put your best foot forward, give them the time and space they need and provide them with your contact information for when they make up their mind.

2. Once the customer has expressed that they want to purchase your products or services you can stop selling. Your sales routine will wear on the customer and you only risk moving the sale in the wrong direction. Once they want to buy, focus on completing the transaction. At this point, instead of pushing the benefits of your best energy efficient windows and doors you can ask them for a time to bring out your exterior door installation specialist. Continue to be friendly and answer any questions, but there is no need to keep selling.

3. Instead of trying to be persuasive, try to understand what the customer is looking to get from the transaction. Then you can take an educational approach to your sales. If you focus on what the customer’s needs and you address these needs, you will build credibility as an expert in your field. Once you have demonstrated that you are an expert and recommend the right products and services, you can also be the source for those goods. In the case of Ethos Windows and Doors this means understanding that what the customer really wants is a quick, affordable and professional installation that will offer lasting, measurable energy savings.

Ethos Windows and Doors focuses on treating customers right, understanding their needs and educating them about their options. Rather than a traditional sales approach, Ethos prefers to help prospective customers make informed decisions regarding how to get the most attractive, affordable and best energy efficient windows and doors.

Tags: Business Advice, Services by Kevin Cushing
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Remember learning the painful lesson of sharing as a child? One local business is helping other businesses learn to share and saving them money in the process.

You don’t often see businesses apply principle like sharing. However, thanks to Stratus Rack some businesses are sharing with each other and saving handfuls of money in the process. Stratus Rack is helping businesses save money by allowing them to securely share web servers.

Businesses have no interest in sharing superhero toys and candy. Although sharing other things can save money. Stratus Rack uses virtual servers to help share business server hosting and save money. After all, saving money is much more fun than parents making you share your X-Men toys with your sister (she doesn’t even know who Magneto is).

Sharing web servers? Ok, so businesses don’t pool their allowances and go server shopping together, but two or more unrelated businesses often share a server.

How and why? It just makes sense. Hosting centers have impressive large and powerful machines providing dedicated servers. For small and medium sized businesses it doesn’t make sense to pay for what they don’t need. Stratus Rack partitions part of a server for each business. This is kind of like the imaginary line your parents drew down the middle of the car to keep you and your sister from bickering. The difference is with a virtual server you won’t even notice another business and they certainly can’t take your juice box.

A virtual server with Stratus rack is just like having a server to yourself except you don’t have to pay for what you don’t use. You get all the benefits of a dedicated server: a 100% uptime guarantee, low latency and a redundant data center.

Next budget meeting earn a few brownie points and save your company some money by suggesting your business go Dutch on Seattle virtual server hosting.

For more information, including pricing and online signup, visit http://www.stratusrack.com/.

Tags: Business Advice, Services by Kevin Cushing
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Blekko is a new search engine that is slashing its way up the ranks of search engine popularity. Though Blekko is new it has the hope to surpass Google with its Slash tag feature and spam countering system. The Slash tags enable the searcher to look more directly at what they want without spam sites interrupting their search.  Using Slash tags you can weed out unwanted sites by creating custom slash tags or by adding a slash symbol to your search.  For example, if you were looking for tech items then you would type  “/tech.”  As a result you will only get websites that have to do with technology.

Blekko also has a feature that allows you to block spam sites from all your searches.  You simply need to click the spam button which is located right under the website’s title, and that site will be, as Blekko says, “Dead to you”. There is another feature, on the same line as the spam button called CEO, which can help web designers see how many pages a website has, how many incoming links the site has, and what the host rank for that site is, as well as a source button that shows the code for the website you are viewing.

So will Blekko take over Google’s place at the spot of search engines?  Only time will tell.  For now the word is quickly spreading about Blekko’s unique tools and capabilities and more and more users are being converted each day.

Tags: Business Advice by Wesley Redding
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You know it’s time to remake your company’s website when …

1. A first-time visitor says, “Ahh, I see your website is from the Early Web Period.”
2. Only your mother can find it.
3. A new customer comes to your store, sits down and cries, “It didn’t look like this on the web!”
4. Your staff informs you that the website just sold something you haven’t got.
5. Your web master has disappeared and no one else can figure out how to make anything work.
6. Your sales staff are ashamed to share the web address with anyone.
7. Customers complain they can’t find what you say is there.
8. Your logo and other design elements are new millennial and your website is past millennial.
9. Your web stats show that lots of people are finding the website, but no one’s buying.
10. A first-time visitor says, “Yuck.  I never go beyond those drum beat and swhirly dot pages!”

You know you don’t need a website makeover when …

Your business is working at capacity, income exceeds out go, your customers are happy and your staff have no complaints.

If you’re looking to update your website call us at 206.244.9092 or email info@4cesi.com.

Tags: Business Advice, Services by Elizabeth Paulsen
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Businesses that developed simple text-dense websites in the early years of the Internet (before 2001) benefited from a phenomenon known as “grandfathering”.  If these businesses listed their websites in the major search engines before the engines began charging for inclusion or pay per click, their sites stayed in the search engines for free because the search engines were each trying to compile the biggest, most relevant database.

If the businesses were in well-defined niches, the websites of these businesses had quite high rankings for several phrases related to their business and web-generated business was good!

Then by mid-1995 many businesses that had had natural search high rankings for several years saw their rankings drop significantly (from first page to 16th page or below).  This was because the algorithms (formulas) utilized by the search engines evolved continuously while the websites did not keep up with current international standards.

While each website varies, optimizing an older website to meet current international standards typically involves over a dozen discrete tasks.  There is no silver bullet, simply a list of tasks that take about three weeks to complete.  These tasks include:

1. conducting research to identify which phrases will get the most web traffic (highest count of searches to number of competing web pages),
2. scripting improved text for the search engines and human readers,
3. eliminating code that slows down search engine robots,
4. adding structural elements that help people and search engine robots get through the site more quickly, and
5. deleting any inappropriate strategies that may have been in place prior to optimization.

Businesses that have experienced dropped rankings currently represent about half the new clients for the search engine optimization services provided by Cascade e-Commerce Solutions, Inc. (CeSI).  CeSI calls this work “ranking remediation” because it involves working to remedy dropped rankings so that web-generated business levels are restored.

Restoring lost rankings takes less time than securing rankings for sites that are new or have never been well ranked.  Businesses that have lost ranking know the value of their search engine position in terms of sales and new customers and so are highly motivated to assist in the process.  Short turn around time and high client motivation make ranking remediation an especially fun effort for CeSI.

If your business’ website is in need of ranking remediation, please don’t hesitate to contact Cascade e-Commerce Solutions at 206-244-9092 or info@4cesi.com.

Tags: Business Advice, Services by Elizabeth Paulsen
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By Elizabeth Paulsen in the style of Chuck Gallozzi

We are thankful for:

• Long hours because even though they’re long, we set them and we are not likely to lay ourselves off.
• Work stress because it gives us an excuse to reach for the dark chocolate or go work out.
• Payroll taxes, vacation pay and medical premiums because it means we have employees to help do the work.
• Tech savvy employees because they prompt us to update our hardware, software and selfware (personal skills and knowledge).
• The customer who owes us money because it means the project is complete.
• The customer who tells stories or makes puns, because he makes us laugh.
• The customer who complains because it means she cares enough about our work to tell us how we can improve.
• The customer who includes a smiley face on his check and emoticons in his emails because it reminds us we are more than business owners.
• Commercial loans because they make us less attractive to hostile buyouts.
• Auditors because they give us critical information and feedback.
• Business advisors, mentors and strategic business partners because they sharpen us.
• Business networking groups because they help us refine our elevator speeches.
• Non-profit organizations because they challenge us to be philanthropic.
• Our families who say that they like life better as small business owners than when we worked for large corporations.

Tags: Business Advice by Elizabeth Paulsen
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20 Ways to Keep Search Engines from Listing Your Website in Their Search Results

In ten years of optimizing websites for the search engines, I’ve often been called in to remedy business websites that have had disastrous results in the search engines. In each case a prior webmaster or search engine optimization (SEO) service provider had employed abusive and/or neglectful strategies. 20 of these abuses and neglectful practices are listed below.

1. The first thing on the home page is a link to another business’ website.
2. The website has no original text (all text is copied from other websites).
3. The website is built in frames which prevent search engine robots from accessing the actual text content.
4. Important text is built into graphics, Adobe Acrobat PDF files and/or Flash files which search engine robots can’t read.
5. The web pages include hidden text (text that is in the same color as the web page background color).
6. The web pages include hidden links (such as links from unseen graphics).
7. The web pages are built in a dynamic platform and employ a linking strategy that results in endless loops in which the same text content reappears with different web addresses (duplicate content).
8. Web page names include lots of code language such as “&” (ampersands), “?” (question marks) and “=” (equals signs).
9. The web pages have no metatags.
10. The same exact metatags are used on every page in the website.
11. Keyword phrases are based on guessing what people search for rather than on actual search data.
12. The website’s text hasn’t been updated in years.
13. The website’s code doesn’t meet current international standards.
14. The navigation links are different on every page.
15. There is no sitemap (page that lists links to all the website’s pages).
16. The navigation takes visitors forward to lots of dead ends (pdf files and graphics with no navigation links that take people back to the website).
17. The website includes many links to missing pages and graphics (broken links).
18. The domain name changed and the webmaster failed to set up proper redirects.
19. The web language changed and the webmaster failed to set up proper redirects.
20. A competitor’s website has optimized its website for the business’ name and trademarked names without any challenge to the legality of this action.

In many cases, the business’ leadership didn’t even know that abusive and/or neglectful strategies had been employed.

If you suspect that your business’ website may suffer from inappropriate or outdated strategies, please feel free to contact me at info@4cesi.com or 206-244-9092.

Tags: Business Advice by Elizabeth Paulsen
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Is your business improving?

While some business owners look to their financials to determine whether their business is doing better, many small business owners also look to the following indicators.  They know business is better when:

1. Management isn’t panicked when some high maintenance customers go elsewhere.
2. Management begins to test new services and markets.
3. Pay raises and/or year-end bonuses are extended to staff.
4. More staff is hired.
5. Equipment and facilities are upgraded.
6. Logo, business cards, website and other marketing materials are updated.
7. The business supports a fundraising event.
8. The business sponsors a youth sports team.
9. The owner takes a vacation for the first time in years.
10. Some tasks are done “just for fun”.

Furthermore, the truly wise business owner will engage in the above activities even before business is really better.  This is because the wise business owner knows from experience that acting on the belief that something is better actually helps things move in the direction of getting better, just as priming a pump helps the water to flow more quickly and steadily.

Tags: Business Advice by Elizabeth Paulsen
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Although I make a living helping businesses attract new customers and sales through online media, I don’t quickly jump on every new social medium platform.

This is because I’ve learned from experience that:

• some are huge time wasters that provide very little meaningful communication,
• others don’t last long enough to be proven as effective social networking or marketing systems, and
• others change format so often that no one wants to keep up with the latest version of the system (over engineering-itis).

Therefore, I read reviews of new systems, question staff, friends and associates about their experiences with the new systems, test some for personal use and wait until there is sufficient evidence that it is worth spending time and energy to fully learn and implement another system.

As a result of this process I have chosen to set up LinkedIn.com and Plaxo.com accounts to keep connected with business associates. I also have  set up a Twitter.com profile to follow a business associate’s tweets and found that other business associates were looking for me on Twitter. Then I began to set up Facebook.com pages – one for personal use and others for client businesses.

So has this helped business?

Yes and no. It has:

• increased the number of incoming links and visitors to websites that I manage,
• helped me keep updated on who’s doing what where, and
• helped renew and strengthen business relationships.

However, it has not brought significant volumes of new clients or sales yet.

So today when a prospective client asks me whether he/she should invest in social media, I say, “Only if your website, blog and email communications are already optimized and producing new customers and more sales. Websites, blogs and email marketing are still very effective strategies and the new social communication systems do not replace them, they simply augment them.”

As for which order to implement traditional web and newer web marketing strategies, it does depend somewhat on the market niche and the business’ marketing budget.   However, the typical succession is

1. website with on page and  in site  natural search optimization strategies implemented (website may or may not include a blog),
2. off page optimization of the website (i.e. keyword rich links from other well-optimized, geographically or topically on target  websites  including local map search sites, online directories and other industry-related web pages),
3. pay per click marketing,
4. email marketing,
5. article marketing,
6. social marketing (selection of specific strategies such as LinkedIn, Plaxo, Facebook, MySpace, etc. depends upon market niche and ideal customer demographics).

To help businesses  develop a prioritized outline of possible marketing mediums, I offer a one hour complimentary consultation.   To schedule your complimentary consultation, please phone me at 206.244.9092 or email info@4cesi.com.

Tags: Business Advice by Elizabeth Paulsen
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I enjoy mentoring new businesses.   One of the most common questions I hear from new business owners is “How should I set my price?”   Here is what I tell them.

Know the price your competitors are charging.   Gather as much information as you can regarding what your competitors are charging and why.   Make certain that for each price you know the specific products, options and services that are included.

Know your lowest possible price.   For each service/product list all your costs including supplies, staffing, shipping overhead and follow on services.   Then for each service/product add your minimum margin (the money your business needs to make above the costs for that item to be viable).

Compare your competitors’ prices to your lowest possible prices.   It helps to build a table of each service and product and list your prices in one column and the prices of competitors in other columns.   Then study the options below and select the option that works best for your business.

Lowest Price Option

Consider being the lowest price competitor when:

1. You know you can sustain the price for a long time.
2. You know that your competition can’t come near that price because their overhead and other costs are higher and they don’t have the funding and can’t get the funding to offer your price or lower.
3. You know that another competitor can’t enter the market and offer a lower price.

Don’t aim to be the lowest price competitor when:

1. There already is or is likely to be a competitor who has the funding to drop below your lowest possible price. A competitor who has adequate funding can drop their price just long enough to get your customers to switch and make you raise your price or force you out of business. It is important to note that customers who shop for lowest price are fickle. As soon as your price is no longer the lowest, they’ll feel fully justified in moving on. Don’t count on their loving your services/products so much that they will stay even when you’re no longer the lowest price.
2. Prospects who are shopping for your services/products may think yours are substandard in quality because price is associated with quality in your industry.

Highest Price Option

Consider being the highest price competitor when:

1. You have at least one story of success that you can share. If you have done the same work or made the same product for someone else and can  tell  prospects that you significantly contributed to that success, you can command a high price.
2. You know that you and your services/products are worth it. Prospects can smell confidence. They’ll believe you’re the best if you believe it.
3. There are sufficient prospects for your services/products for you to sustain your business.
4. You can achieve and sustain the level of service and quality that your price promises. Some businesses can and do pay a lot of attention to the total customer experience so that they sustain the  service quality  through every aspect of the relationship.

Don’t aim to be the highest price competitor when:

1. There are too few prospects to buy your services/products. You could become too dependent on only those few so that those customers and not you would control your business. In addition, you could wind up alienating other prospects by being perceived as being too “high falutin” for anybody’s good.
2. You’re not confident that you are better than the rest and you have no story to tell of past success.
3. You don’t know how to sustain being the best quite yet.

Middle Price Option

Consider being a middle priced competitor when:

1. You want the greatest flexibility in pricing.
2. You don’t have a great story of success to tell right from the get go.
3. You have no desire to make huge waves amongst your competitors right from the get go as either lowest or highest price may do.

Don’t aim to be middle priced when your business model is really better suited to either lowest or highest price.

Pricing to the Level of Responsibility

There is a phenomenon that I call “pricing to the level of responsibility” that occurs when a business charges higher-end prices. This phenomenon is desirable. The phenomenon looks like this:

1. A business charges a high price;
2. Prospects believe that the business is the best because it charges a high price. The logic is this… “After all, who would have the ‘chutzpah’ to charge the highest price if they didn’t really deserve it?”
3. This logic can carry on into the contract. “If we’re paying this business this much money we must use its services/products and listen to its representatives so that we can fully implement their recommendations in a timely manner. After all we don’t want to waste all that money we’re spending.”

This phenomenon should never be leveraged simply to secure a high price because the customer will see through this and be greatly offended.

However, this phenomenon can be very helpful in situations in which the customers’ commitment to the project needs to be high. It causes both the customer and the vendor to work together as a team and can truly support a successful result.

Finally, when a business defines its pricing, it can confidently communicate this to prospects and customers.   Clarity around pricing helps set a positive tone for the business/customer relationship.   The earlier a new business can set its pricing, the more quickly it can move towards success.

For more information contact Elizabeth Paulsen at 206.244.9092 or info@4cesi.com.

Tags: Business Advice by Elizabeth Paulsen
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Many businesses are reporting that their goal is simply to survive these difficult times. The steps to survival are the same as those for building a business.

1. Build relationships (old and new). This builds trust and helps you identify who needs what your business has to offer and who has what your business needs.
2. Tell your story. What has your business accomplished? What is your business’ passion?
3. Invite a prospect to try your business’ services/products.
4. Provide what you have committed to provide and if possible provide more than was promised.
5. Be as eager to buy what your business needs as you are to sell what others need. This continues the process of building relationships.

To submit your own ideas for surviving tough times email info@northwestgoldcoast.com.

Tags: Business Advice by Elizabeth Paulsen
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